Tile pusher for floor tiles

ABSTRACT

A tile pusher includes a base, on which a bar is provided for reciprocation and a driving member is provided for rotation. The bar and the driving member have teeth to be meshed with each other. An exerting member is connected to an end of the bar, and an operating member connected to the driving member to be operated to turn the driving member. User may operate the operating member to move the exerting member toward or backward to press a floor tile on a neighboring floor tile. A lock device is provided on the base to hold the exerting member at a very position that the exerting member may keep pressing the floor tile for a period. In addition, the present invention further provides a reverse exerting member on the base to press the floor tile close to a wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a DIY tool, and more particularly to an assisting device in tiling floor which may help to press the floor tiles and make them tightly tiled together.

2. Description of the Related Art

In various DIY products, DIY floor tile, which is commonly favored for different reasons such as its variety of patterns, easy instruction, etc. Consumer may choose floor tiles of different materials, textures, and colors to create a brand new atmosphere of a room.

Typically, floor tiles are provided with protrusions and slots on four edges to be engaged with their neighboring tiles. Glue is applied between the engaged tiles to ensure that the tiles are connected together.

In practice, after the boards being glued and engaged, it takes some time to press the tiles and makes them firmly tiled together. A commonly seen way of pressing the tiles is hammering. Some put a piece of wood on the edge of the tile and hammer the wood to avoid the possible damage on the tile. However, hammering will still damage the tiles more or less. Besides, for tiles close to the wall, there is no sufficient space for hammering.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a tile pusher capable of pressing floor tiles and make them firmly tiled together.

The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a tile pusher capable of pressing floor tiles close to the wall.

According to the objectives of the present invention, a tile pusher includes a base, on which a bar is provided for reciprocation and a driving member is provided for rotation. The bar and the driving member have teeth to be meshed with each other. An exerting member is connected to an end of the bar, and an operating member is connected to the driving member for turning. User may operate the operating member to move the exerting member toward or backward to press a floor tile on a neighboring floor tile.

The present invention further provides a lock device to hold the exerting member at a very position that the exerting member may keep pressing the floor tile for a period. In addition, the present invention further provides a reverse exerting member on the base to press the floor tile close to a wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, showing the head portion of the bar and the connector of the exerting member;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the lock device securing the driving member;

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, showing the lock device releasing the driving member;

FIG. 6 is a sketch diagram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the tile pusher being operated to have the exerting member pressing the floor tile; and

FIG. 7 is a sketch diagram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the tile pusher being operated to have the reverse exerting member pressing the floor tile.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Please refer to the drawings, a floor tile pusher of the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes:

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a base 10, which is a rectangular board, has four recesses 12 at opposite sides. Bolts or screws (not shown) may be inserted into the recesses 12 respectively to fix the base 10 at a predetermined place. The base 10 is provided with a frame base 14 and a lock device 16.

The frame base 14 has a high portion 18 and a low portion 20 wherein the high portion 18 is provided with a through hole 22, and low portion 20 has a two-stage bore 24 at a top thereof. On a vertical adjacent side of the high portion 18 and the low portion 20, an opening is provided thereon to expose a middle section of the through hole 22.

A bar 26 passes through the through hole 22 of the frame base 14 for reciprocation. The bar 26 has teeth 28. In the present invention, the bar 26 is a screw, and the thread thereon is the teeth 26. The bar 26 has a head portion 30 at a front end thereof on which an annular slot 31 is provided. A stopping member 32 is fixed at a rear end of the bar 26 by a bolt 33. The stopping member 32 is a disk having a diameter greater than that of the through hole 22 that the bar will not fall off from the through hole 22.

An exerting member 34, which is an L-shaped plate, is fixed with a connector at a rear side thereof. The connector 36 is a rectangular block having an opening 38. The head portion 28 of the bar 26 is inserted into the opening 38 of the connector 36, and a pin 40 is inserted into the connector 36 and enters the slot 30 of the head portion 28, as shown in FIG. 3, that the exerting member 34 is connected to the bar 26 and is capable of rotating.

A driving member 42 has an inward-curved-circumference, on which teeth 44 are provided, a post 46 on a bottom thereof, and a bore 48 on a top thereof. A bearing 50 is mounted in the two-stage bore 24, and the post 46 of the driving member 42 is connected to the bearing 50 that the teeth 44 of the driving member 42 is meshed with the teeth 28 of the bar 26 through the opening of the high portion 18 of the frame base 14.

An operating device 52, which is a crank in the present invention, is connected to the driving member 42 through a shaft 54 for manipulation of driving the driving member 42 turning, and then make the driving member 42 reciprocate the bar 26. The shaft 54 has an end inserted into the bore 48 of the driving member 42 and the other end inserted into an opening 56 of the operating device 52. A pin 60 is inserted into a slot 58 of the shaft 54 and the driving member 42 to secure the connection of the operating device 52 and the driving member 42.

The lock device 16 has a base 62, a bolt 64 and a post 66. The base 62 has a through hole 68, an opening 70 on a top to expose a middle section of the through hole 68, and two transverse recesses 72, 74 on opposite ends of the opening 70. The bolt 64 is received in the through hole 68 of the base 62, and the post 66 has an end connected to the bolt 64 via the opening 70 that user may hold the post 66 to move the bolt 64 along the through hole 68. The bolt 64 has a tip end 76 facing the driving member 42. When user holds the post 66 and moves the bolt 64 toward the driving member 42, as shown in FIG. 4, the tip end 76 will enter a space between two neighboring teeth 44 of the driving member 42 and lock the driving member 42, and then user may turn and lay the post 66 into the slot 72 and secure the bolt 64 at this position. Under this condition, user is unable to turn the operating member 52. On the contrary, when user moves the bolt 64 away from the driving member 42, as shown in FIG. 4, the tip end 76 will leave the driving member 42, and then user may turn and lay the post 66 into the slot 74. Under this condition, user is able to turn the operating member 52 to drive the bar 26 moving forward and backward.

As shown in FIG. 6, in completing the task of tiling a floor, worker may put the tile pusher of the present invention in front of a floor tile 78, and then turn the operating member 52 to move the exerting member 34 toward the floor tile 78 that the exerting member 34 may press the floor tile 78 on a neighboring floor tile 80 to make them firmly connected together.

As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention further provides a reverse exerting member 82, which is an L-shaped plate fixed on a front of the base 10 by two bolts 84. When the floor is tiled to a place close to a wall 86, due to a lack of space worker may put the tile pusher of the present invention on a floor tile 88, as shown in FIG. 7, and turn the operating member 52 to move the exerting member 34 toward the wall 86. When the exerting member 34 touches the wall 86 and the worker keeps turning the operating member 52, it will move the base 10 backward that the reverse exerting member 82 may press the floor tile 88 towards a neighboring floor tile 90 and make them firmly connected together.

The characters and advantages of the present invention are described as following:

1. By turning the operating member clockwise and counterclockwise, the exerting member may be driven forward or backward to press the floor tile and firmly connect the floor tiles together.

2. By operating the lock device, the exerting member may be held at a very position and make the exerting member keep pressing the floor tile for a period.

3. Since there may be a blocker interfering with the pressing work of the tile pusher of the present invention, the exerting member may be rotated to keep itself off the blocker that the blocker may not interfere with the pressing work.

4. The inward-curved-circumference of the driving member is complementary to the bar that the meshed teeth of the driving member and the bar have a greater contact area. It may provide the tile pusher of the present invention a greater power to press the floor tile.

5. The reverse exerting member may be mounted on the base for tiling a floor when tiling task becomes close to the wall with little space to work, which makes the tile pusher of the present invention applicable without limitation of space.

Although the tile pusher of the present invention is designed for tiling tasks, it may be used in any task that requires pressing, moving or lifting different types of boards and other similar objects.

The description above is a few preferred embodiments of the present invention and the equivalence of the present invention is still in the scope of the claim of the present invention. 

1. A tile pusher, comprising: a base; a bar, which has teeth, provided on the base for reciprocation; an exerting member connected to an end of the bar; a driving member provided on the base for rotation, which has teeth meshed with teeth of the bar; and an operating member connected to the driving member to be operated to turn the driving member.
 2. The tile pusher as defined in claim 1, wherein the driving member has a curved circumference, on which the teeth are provided, and the bar has a portion, on which the teeth are provided, is complementary to the curved circumference of the driving member.
 3. The tile pusher as defined in claim 1, wherein the exerting member is rotated relative to the bar.
 4. The tile pusher as defined in claim 3, wherein the bar has a head portion, on which an annular slot is provided, and the exerting member has a connector, on which an opening is provided, that the head portion of the bar is inserted into the opening of the connector, and a pin is inserted into the connector and enters the slot of the head portion.
 5. The tile pusher as defined in claim 1, further comprising a frame base mounted on the base, wherein the frame base has a low portion and a high portion having a through hole and an opening exposing a middle section of the through hole, and the bar passes through the through hole of the high portion and the driving is provided on the low portion to mesh with the bar through the opening of the high portion.
 6. The tile pusher as defined in claim 5, wherein the bar is provided with a stopping member which has a diameter greater than that of the through hole of the high portion of the frame base.
 7. The tile pusher as defined in claim 1, further comprising a reverse exerting member mounted on the base.
 8. The tile pusher as defined in claim 1, further comprising a lock device mounted on the base to lock the driving member.
 9. The tile pusher as defined in claim 8, wherein the lock device includes a base having a through hole and an opening exposing a middle section of the through hole, a bolt received in the through hole to be moved toward and away from the driving member and a post connected to the bolt via the opening of the base for manipulation.
 10. The tile pusher as defined in claim 9, wherein the base has two transverse slots on opposite ends of the opening to receive the post respectively. 